'Chinoiserie' under Postmodern Trend-Comparing two distinguished hotels in Chinese courtyard style,
‘Chinoiserie’ under Postmodern Trend
Comparing two distinguished hotels in Chinese courtyard style, both designed by Chinese-American architects and completed in 1982 in Beijing
ARC1015 INTRODUCTION TO ARCHITECTURE-APRIL 2023
Yaoxuan Zeng 210512715 Tutor: Dr Jianfei Zhu (Group 15)
Word Count: 194+371+274+326+753+299=2220
Figure 1. Jianguo Hotel Beijing exterior
Figure 2. Fragrant Hill Hotel exterior.
A/ The Demand for International Hotels in the 1980s
Since the 1980s, China has transitioned from a planned economy to a socialist market economy. After the ‘Cultural Revolution’ in 1976 and the beginning of ‘Reform and Opening up’ in 1978, Chinese government opened its doors with a more open attitude and had in-depth economic, political, cultural and other exchanges with the Western world. International tourism developed rapidly, and demand for tourist hotels had surged. National leader at that time, Deng Xiaoping, put forward the directive of 'using overseas Chinese and foreign capital to build tourist hotels and accelerate the development of tourism'.
In the 70s and 80s, postmodernism prevailed in the United States 1 , which also deeply influenced Chinese architecture at that time. By comparing these two famous international hotels (Figure 1,Figure 2) in Beijing approximately 24km far from each other, designed in 1982 by two Chinese-American architects, this essay explores the international influence of Chinese architecture in the historical context of the time and the corresponding results. On this basis, I hope to analyse the historical reasons why modern Chinese architecture is difficult to go global.
1 Fayong Rong, ‘Contemporary western architectural thought’, Douding, 27 June 2017 <http://www.docin.com/p-1960356134.html> [accessed 6 March 2023].
As China’s first Sino-foreign joint venture garden hotel situated in ambassy area of Beijing CBD, Jianguo Hotel Beijing (北京建国饭
店 ) is one of the first batch of tourist hotels to accept foreign investment under the direct leadership of Chinese central government(Figure 3) 2 It was designed by a Chinese-American architect called Clement Chen Jr.(Chen Xuanyuan 陈宣远,19301988), who was born in Shanghai, left China at a very young age and set up an architecture office based on San Francisco. 3
2 Edward Denison, Sir Banister Fletcher’s Global History of Architecture, Volume 2, ed. by Murray Fraser, 21st edn (London: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2018), II: China since 1914, pp.1095-1132 <https://www.bloomsburyarchitecturelibrary.com/encyclopedia?docid=b-9781474207775> [accessed 4 April 2023].
3 Cole Roskam, ‘The Architecture of China’s Economic Liberalization’, Yale University Press, 3 December 2021 <https://yalebooks.yale.edu/2021/12/03/the-architecture-of-chinas-economic-
B/ Jianguo Hotel Beijing by Clement Chen Jr.
Figure 3.Old photo of Jianguo Hotel exterior
He was not only the architect of the Jianguo Hotel, but also its investor Since Jianguo Hotel’s two-year construction completion and its opening in 1982, Jianguo Hotel has provided convenient accommodation for dignitaries from all over the world and greatly promoted international tourism. 4 The Chang'an Avenue where Jianguo Hotel is located, is a symbol of Chinese Modernization process sandwiched between Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square and a wonderful area where the classical and the modern are intertwined. 5 The operation of Jianguo Hotel was so successful that this hotel has become a benchmark and model for international hotel design in China during the reform and opening up period.
The entire hotel covers an area of more than 10,000 square meters and consists of six separate buildings of different heights(Figure 5). It liberalization/> [accessed 5 April 2023].
4 Peter G. Rowe and Seng Kuan, Architecture Encounters with Essence and Form in Modern China (London: The MIT Press, 2004), pp. 146-149.
5 Yu,p.4.
Figure 4. Jianguo Hotel lobby
is about 200 m long in east-west direction and about 50 m wide in north-south direction There is a circular lobby at the centre of the hotel. A zone and B zone(Figure 6) are guest rooms of 5 and 10 storeys respectively. C and D are food and beverage related areas. E is swimming pool. F is laundry room and single dormitory. G is staff living building An artificial river runs through the heart of the hotel, where the ‘courtyard’ area located.
Figure 5. Jianguo Hotel master plan
Figure 6 A standard guest room storey plan.
C/ Fragrant Hill Hotel by I.M.Pei
Located on the Fragrant Hill Mountain of Xishan Scenic Area, northwest suburb of Beijing 6, Fragrant Hill Hotel (香山饭店)(Figure 6) is a masterpiece designed by I.M.Pei ( 贝聿铭 ), a respectable Chinese-American architect winning the Pritzker Prize after the year Fragrant Hill Hotel was opened. Being called ‘the last master of high modernist architecture’ 7 ,Pei had done more than 50
6 Carter Wisoman, the architecture of I.M.Pei with an illustrated catalogue of the buildings and projects, ed. by Diana Murphy, 2nd edn (London: Thames &Hudson Ltd., 2001), pp 185-207.
7 Yizhan, ‘I.M. Pei is gone, leaving behind these modernist architectural masterpieces!’, Baijiahao, 17 May 2019
Figure 7. Bird View of Fragrant Hill Hotel
architectural designs, among of which the most widely known work was the extension of the Louvre in Paris. Pei was a
descendant of a famous family in ancient Suzhou, and for designing Fragrant Hill Hotel, he skilfully borrowed the gardening techniques of Suzhou gardens 8to create an elegant atmosphere for Fragrant Hill Hotel(Figure 7). Different from the artificial beauty of regular Western gardens, Chinese classical gardens emphasize the integration with nature through various ingenious changes in design. As Pei’s first project in China, Fragrant Hill Hotel was considered as a successful example of combining Chinese classical <https://baijiahao.baidu.com/s?id=1633745774649629924&wfr=spider&for=pc> [accessed 9 April 2023].
8 Rowe,p.147.
Figure 8. Entrance of Fragrant Hill Hotel.
garden art and Western modern architecture technique(Figure 8)
9 The sitting of hotel was a royal garden that had fallen into disrepair. In Pei's own words, he was actually renovating rather than designing the garden.
9 Gero von Boehm, ‘Appendix of the Chinese edition – I.M. Pei's Chinese feelings’, in Conversations with I.M.Pei, trans. by Bing Lin (Shanghai: Wenhui Publishing, 2004),
Figure 9.Lobby of Fragrant Hill Hotel.
As the floor plan(Figure 9) indicates, the zigzagging route was a natural extension of the original ancient trees. 10 The hotel covers an area of over 30,000 square metres and has 285 rooms. Distributed along a central axis, the entrance vestibule (bottom of Figure 10) is made into a square, the middle is the main body of the hotel, and finally the south side of the hotel(top of Figure 10) is the back garden or ‘courtyard’ (Figure 11).
Figure 10 Site Plan of Fragrant Hill Hotel. 10 Boehm.
D/ Two Feats of Inheritance of Chinese Tradition in Modern Context
China in the 20th century was very turbulent, first ending the oldfashioned Qing Dynasty in the 10s, then being affected by the world wars in the 20s and 30s, formally establishing the country in the 40s, and then experiencing meandering development in the 50s and 70s, until the end of the 70s beginning to deepen foreign exchanges. Under the impact of postmodernist architectural culture prevalent in the West, especially in the United States, the preservation of traditional Chinese culture in architecture has become a difficult and entangled issue However, China is actively seeking a balance between inheritance and development.
These two hotels from the eighties are still open today, attracting mainly nostalgic Chinese. As international hotels in the eighties, they had great economic and political influence in China. Both Jianguo Hotel Beijing(Figure 10) and Fragrant Hill Hotel are rich in Chinese classical style. Both courtyard-styled hotels are both not canonised in the world, Fragrant Hill Hotel ,a building designed by
Figure 11.Clement Chen Jr.(2nd from the right) attended Jianguo Hotel Opening Ceremony.
master I.M.Pei(Figure 11),an internationally famous architect, has been known by much more people than Jianguo Hotel Beijing Although the antique style of Fragrant Hill Hotel remains, the management of it is relatively backward and the facilities are relatively old. On the other hand, Jianguo Hotel in Beijing's CBD has a more modern internal design and management and can still export high-standard hotel services today.
These two low-rise hotels have a lot of similarities. To some extent, they are both ‘Chinoiserie’, which means Western designers' interpretations and imitations of Chinese style. 11
The two Chinese-American architects used mainly Western design concepts to design the hotels, and although they had a Chinese background, the Chinese style they interpreted was what 'Westerners' think of as Chinese style, actually both were quite successful attempts. Both hotels have reinforced concrete and metal structures as the main body, and the parts reflecting the Chinese style are placed on local non-load-bearing structures,
11 Pippa Blenkinsop, ‘Chinoiserie – 13 whimsical ways to decorate with this cultural phenomenon’, Homes and Gardens, 5 January 2022 <https://www.homesandgardens.com/ideas/chinoiserietrend> [accessed 9 April 2023].
Figure 12. I.M.Pei ’s love for Suzhou courtyards
decorations and landscapes, such as artificial streams, windows, internal classical gardens, etc
Figure 13. A garden room of Jianguo Hotel Beijing.
Figure 14. Fragrant Hill Hotel Ground Floor Interior.
E/ Hardship of Promoting Chinese Modern Architecture
Worldwide
-Chaotic Social Environment of 20th Century
In the second half of the last century, the new P.R.China experienced great economic, political, cultural and other turbulence. China's development from the 1960s onwards was extremely difficult due to famine caused by poor agricultural harvests, diplomatic discord with Soviet Government, and lack of clarity on the facts of development during the ‘Great Leap Forward’ period and the People's Commune Movement in the 1950s, etc. 12 At that time, the Western world had experienced a mid-century post-modernist revolution since 1960s. China's national economy was extremely unstable during that hard period and it was impossible to send a large number of people to study in the West like in the 1920s. As there was no time for the 1960s China to care about learning architecture from the Western world, it naturally lost the opportunity to deeply contact modernist architecture. 13 Moreover, under the impact
12 People's Daily, ‘Timeline of the History of the Communist Party of China (1960-1970)’, Hengshui University, 22 July 2011 <http://xjzx.hsnc.edu.cn/info/1098/2023.htm> [accessed 6 March 2023].
13 Chen Liu, ‘After the École des Beaux-Arts and Bauhaus: Liang Sicheng and the Utopia of Modernism in Chinese Architecture of the Twentieth Century’, in Complementary Modernisms in China and the United States: Art as Life/Art as Idea, ed. by Jian Zhang and Robertson Bruce (Santa Barbara: Punctum Books, 2020), p. 223 <https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv16zk03m.18> [accessed 6
of postmodernist architectural culture prevalent in the West, especially in the United States, the preservation of traditional Chinese culture in architecture has become a difficult and entangled issue.
Systematic teaching of modern architecture in China began in the last century, which was really late. In the last century, the situation in China and abroad was turbulent, and the development of domestic architects in China was difficult. China did not catch up with the wave of modernism, and was hit by the trend of postmodernism, and the development of fragile architectural theory could not catch up with the economic development of the second half century. Under the open political policy, many new demands for architecture emerged, but it was difficult to meet the economic situation that was just beginning to rise at that time, and the introduction of foreign capital barely solved some architectural design and landing problems. These reasons add up to the confusing styles of modern Chinese architectural works, and although there are many excellent ones, they are easily buried by the vast torrent of history. 14
The reform and opening up in the eighties attracted a lot of foreign investment to China, which provided soil for March 2023]. 14 Liu,p.223.
the development of many joint ventures.
15 During this period, modern features and local Chinese characteristics collided, and designers faced the contradiction of innovation and inheritance of traditional culture. Clement Chen and I.M.Pei ,both American designers with Chinese backgrounds, brought the advanced architectural design, technology and management of that time to China, and creatively retained some traditional Chinese elements and provided possibilities for the future development of Chinese architecture
-The Independent Chinese Language System
First of all, the language gap between of Chinese and English has long hindered the spread of Chinese architecture in the world. Secondly, the number of scholars who can write articles about China in English is limited, let alone scholars who specialize in Chinese architecture. As a result, it is difficult for people who do not understand Chinese to know Chinese architecture.
In addition, the problem of unification of translation also makes the communication of architecture and architects not well-known. The same building or architect's name is sometimes difficult to unify into one name because of the pronunciation and multiple names with the same
15 Xiao Mo, Chinese Architecture, trans. by Faming Liang (Beijing: Culture and Art Publishing House, 1999), p. 200.
meaning. Chinese Simplified, Chinese Traditional, and even rare characters in some dialects allow buildings to have multiple names at the same time, and translating these characters into English not only creates the problem of inconsistency, but also easily loses some of the beautiful original meaning of Chinese
Moreover, names can be written in non-standard way that foreigners pronounce. For example, the Chinese of ‘Fragrant Hill Hotel’ is 香山饭店 ， ‘ 香山 ’can be translated to Xiang Shan (phonics) or Fragrant Hill (meaning);‘ 饭店 ’means mainly restaurant/bistro or sometimes hotel. Besides, the ‘fragrance’ of China and the one in western countries are so different that the unique Chinese atmosphere cannot be conveyed. The architect’s name, I.M.Pei ,is the abbreviation of Ieoh Ming Pei (not sure whether its foreigners pronunciation), and the Chinese characters are 贝聿铭 (Bei Yu Ming in Chinese phonics).
Figure 15. Fragrant Hill Hotel Backyard.
F/ Conclusion
Figure 16- Fragrant Hill Hotel in autumn.
In the historical context of the 1980s, both designs of Jianguo Hotel Beijing and Fragrant Hill Hotel were the result of the reconciliation of socialist China in the 80s under the onslaught of the wave of capitalism. 16 In Beijing in the 80s, there was Jianguo Hotel(Figure 15), which was very avant-garde in appearance but could still see Chinese elements inside, and the antique Fragrant Hill Hotel(Figure 14), which was a successful combination of Chinese and Western. They all bore witness to the positive development of China during this period.
The two architects of Chinese descent with Western architectural backgrounds mentioned in this article made a bold exploration on
16 Cole Roskam, ‘Envisioning Reform: The International Hotel in Postrevolutionary China, 19741990’, Grey Room, Winter (2015), 102–03 <https://www.jstor.org/stable/43832223> [accessed 6 March 2023].
the road of balancing Chinese and Western modern styles, which had a profound impact on the Chinese architecture industry at that time, letting the fascinating Chinese architectural culture sail farther and farther on the giant ship of modernisation. To this day, these two outstanding works of the eighties have not been forgotten. The advanced management of Jianguo Hotel and the antique appearance of Xiangshan Hotel are always praised by tourists who visit there or nostalgic Chinese going there for ‘archaeology ’ .
There are some architectures in China like forgotten pearls in the sea or like old men that have lived for over a century quietly witnessing the changes of the times. They exist, or no longer exist, but as long as someone is willing to look at these lovely buildings, or their ruins when they pass by them, someone have interest in visiting these buildings to get to know more about them, someone have the confidence to introduce these buildings to other people in various ways, their stories come alive.
Figure 17- Jianguo Hotel during daytime.
List of Figures
Figure 1. Jianguo Hotel Beijing Exterior.
Very East, ‘BTG-JIANGUO Hotels& Resorts’ ,Very East
<https://job.veryeast.cn/98742#s%3D%26c%3D0%26p%3D1> [accessed 20 March 2023]
Figure 2. Fragrant Hill Hotel Exterior.
Rakuten Group Co Ltd, ‘Popular Beijing 5 stars!’, Rakuten Travel <https://travel.rakuten.co.jp/HOTEL/51282/51282.html> [accessed 6 March 2023]
Figure 3.Old photo of Jianguo Hotel exterior
TripAdvisor, ‘Picture of Jianguo Hotel in Beijing’, Jianguo Hotel ,TripAdvisor <https://www.tripadvisor.com.tw/LocationPhotoDirectLink-g294212-d1159881-i25827043Jianguo_Hotel-Beijing.html> [accessed 5 April 2023]
Figure 4. Jianguo Hotel lobby.
Agoda Company Pte Ltd, ‘Balcony/terrace’, Agoda <https://www.agoda.com/zh-hk/jianguohotel/hotel/beijingcn.html?asq=inhHajWG2Mka04TN/gokp1ejMpPKgA+nvtBrHMV2RgTLHGeZApgEJK8hT6Wsd/CB> [accessed 5 April 2023]
Figure 5. Jianguo Hotel master plan
Infrastructure Department of Beijing Municipal Tourism Administration, ‘Overview of Jianguo Hotel’, Ai Xue Shu
<https://www.ixueshu.com/document/5c9a91fc1686a2fd318947a18e7f9386.html> [accessed 5 April 2023]
Figure 6 A standard guest room storey plan.
Infrastructure Department of Beijing Municipal Tourism Administration, ‘Overview of Jianguo
Hotel’, Ai Xue Shu
<https://www.ixueshu.com/document/5c9a91fc1686a2fd318947a18e7f9386.html> [accessed 5 April 2023]
Figure 7 Bird View of Fragrant Hill Hotel.
Hangzhou Dongyi Risheng, ‘I.M. Pei passed away. You will regret not to look at these 4 oriental masterpieces!’, Sohu,17 May 2019 < https://www.sohu.com/a/314766476_769855> [accessed 20 March 2023]
Figure 8.Entrance of Fragrant Hill Hotel.
Man Di, ‘A sequence of entrances with a bit of ancient temple flavour/ House Visit: Xiangshan Fandian’, Douban, 20 September 2019
<https://www.douban.com/note/735054901/?_i=0707244MeuA_Oh> [accessed 5 April 2023]
Figure 9.Lobby of Fragrant Hill Hotel.
Mi Hu Lao Zhang,’ Beijing Xiangshan Fandian-Bei Yuming Piece’, Xiaohongshu , 5 April 2022 < https://www.xiaohongshu.com/explore/624c185b000000002103b7cb> [accessed 20 March 2023]
Figure 10.Site Plan of Fragrant Hill Hotel.
Wuyou File, ‘Floor plan of Fragrant Hills Hotel’, Wuyou File
<https://www.51wendang.com/doc/b5fd80e68ca5a074f913e710> [accessed 5 April 2023]
Figure 11.Clement Chen Jr.(2nd from the right) attended Jianguo Hotel Opening Ceremony.
Zui Ai Da Bei Jing, ‘Yong'anli old town reconstruction and demolition! The old neighbours are going to say goodbye’, NetEase, 23 October 2019
<https://www.163.com/dy/article/ES6NFJAT05268Q3O.html> [accessed 5 April 2023]
Figure 12. I.M.Pei ’s love for Suzhou courtyards.
Cultural Heritage,’ I.M. Pei and Suzhou Museum · Mountain’, 3 June 2020, Sohu <https://www.sohu.com/a/399476204_469537?_trans_=000014_bdss_dklzxbpcgP3p:CP=>
[accessed 5 April 2023]
Figure 13. A garden room of Jianguo Hotel Beijing.
Agoda Company Pte Ltd, ‘Balcony/terrace’, Agoda <https://www.agoda.com/zh-hk/jianguohotel/hotel/beijingcn.html?asq=inhHajWG2Mka04TN/gokp1ejMpPKgA+nvtBrHMV2RgTLHGeZApgEJK8hT6Wsd/CB>
[accessed 5 April 2023]
Figure 14. Fragrant Hill Hotel Ground Floor Interior.
Sunny, ‘Beijing Xiangshan Fandian’, Sohu Blog < https://image.baidu.com/search/detail?ct=503316480&z=0&ipn=d&word=%E9%A6%99%E5%B1% B1%E9%A5%AD%E5%BA%97%E5%86%85%E9%83%A8&step_word=&hs=0&pn=182&spn=0&di=7 189064908925829121&pi=0&rn=1&tn=baiduimagedetail&is=0%2C0&istype=0&ie=utf-8&oe=utf8&in=&cl=2&lm=-
<https://hotel.elong.com/hotel/hoteldetail?hotelId=40501056&inDate=2023-0301&outDate=2023-03-02> [accessed 1 March 2023]
Figure 16- Fragrant Hill Hotel in autumn.
Hejun Business School, ‘Master I.M. Pei passed away, but left great works in the world: the Fragrant
Hills Hotel, the Louvre Glass Pyramid...’, Sina Finance headlines, 17 May 2019
<https://cj.sina.com.cn/articles/view/6083295979/16a97baeb01900hej2> [accessed 5 April 2023]
Figure 17- Jianguo Hotel during daytime.
Hou, Xijiu, ‘My story with reform and opening up: Jianguo Hotel in Beijing - a living history of reform and opening up’, Visiting Beijing, 12 July 2018
<https://www.visitbeijing.com.cn/article/47QlpWtRCHq> [accessed 5 April 2023]
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